This information is designed for you to access external information you may or may not yet know about. It includes websites, books, groups, and message boards. Some of the sources may provide brief information, while others may provide a wealth of information. We want to provide it all to you so you have access to everything and can find the little details that are important to you.

Website Information

Peace Corps -- the main page of Peace Corps, this should always be your main source of information

National Peace Corps Association -- site of a non-profit organization of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, former staff, and friends committed to fostering peace through service, education, and advocacy

The Peace Corps Forum -- an online collaborative Forum website to learn: how to join the Peace Corps, what Peace Corps volunteers may expect; and a repository for their experiences, ideas, projects, and for general information and tips during and after completing service

Peace Corps Journals -- compilation of Peace Corps Volunteer blogs, broken down first by region, then by country

[http://www.lgbrpcv.org/ Lesbian, Gay, & Bisexual US Peace Corps Alumni -- an organization of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people and others who are Peace Corps volunteer alumni, current volunteers, former and current staff members and friends

Peace Corps Books

The Insiders Guide to the Peace Corps: What to Know Before You Go by Dillon Banerjee: a straight forward question answer book about the Peace Corps--anything and everything you'd want to know from applying to how to pack just 80 pounds to what the food will be like to pregnancy (there is dating people!) to extending service to be longer than 27 months. Anything and everything. A few things in the book are a bit outdated (ie. motorcycles are now banned), but for the most part, its an excellent book for understanding the Peace Corps.

A Peace Corps Profile by Kirk A Hackenberg: writes about his service in Nicaragua and then being evacuated to Chile to continue 2 more years of service, living like a local and working with them to sustain their needs

Americans Do Their Business Abroad: The Peace Corps Latrine Reader edited by Jake Fawson: Herein reside seventeen stories (and one poem) written by Peace Corps Volunteers from across the generations and across the planet. Such writing often brings expectations for a certain type of book (heartwarming, uplifting, nice). Many books give you that experience. And we like those books. They are good books. The world needs those books. This is not that book. Americans Do Their Business Abroad is a collection of stories a little too goofy, a little too personal (and maybe a little too gross) to belong anywhere else. Latrines. Goat eyeballs. Pickpockets. Whimsy. Wisdom. And arson in the name of hygiene. Enjoy.

The Village of Waiting by George Packer: In 1982-83, Packer worked for the Peace Corps as an English teacher in the village of Lavie in Togo, West Africa, and here recounts his occasionally comic, more often poignant, and frequently tragic experiences in sharp, descriptive prose. He does not romanticize Africa or Africans, but writes with an honest sense of realism and the perspective of an outsider who nevertheless cares very deeply for his subject: "The struggle to stay afloat took on endless variations in Togo. And the white foreigner who'd come on an enlightened mission, and once there managed to keep his eyes open, quickly lost his bearings in the face of it."

The Princess and the Peace Corps by Lorena Anne Hulskamp: hat happens when a pampered socialite decides to embark on an adventurous change in life—and chooses the Peace Corps as her adventure? Giving “the toughest job you’ll ever love” to a middle-aged woman who’s accustomed to life’s extravagances could be a recipe for disaster.

Groups & Message Boards

peacecorps2 -- an online Peace Corps community that is a large, active community on the message board, files, and database.

The Peace Corps Forum -- a rapidly growing online collaborative Forum website to learn: how to join the Peace Corps, what Peace Corps volunteers may expect; and a repository for their experiences, ideas, projects, and for general information and tips during and after completing service